The fate of over 1,300 candidates, including around 120 women, will be sealed as polling for the third phase of the Lok Sabha election takes place on Tuesday. In this phase, voting will be held in 93 seats across 11 states and union territories.
With the BJP bagging Surat unopposed, 25 seats are going to polls in Prime Minister Modi's home state of Gujarat, besides 11 seats in Maharashtra, 10 seats in Uttar Pradesh, 14 in Karnataka, seven in Chhattisgarh, five in Bihar, four each in Assam and West Bengal, and all two in Goa. Apart from this, the union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (2 seats) and nine seats in Madhya Pradesh, including Betul where elections were deferred, will also go to polls today.
Over 11 crore people are eligible to vote in the third phase promising yet another high-pitched battle with several star campaigners and popular political faces in the fray.
Check live updates of Lok Sabha Elections Phase 3 Voting
Outlook takes a look at some of the bigwigs in the third phase of Lok Sabha election 2024:
Amit Shah, BJP, Gandhinagar: Union Home Minister Amit Shah is contesting from Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency. Gandhinagar has been a bastion for the Bharatiya Janata Party since 1989 – with six terms for Lal Krishna Advani, one for Atal Bihari Vajpayee and the most recent for Union Home Minister Amit Shah. In 2019, Shah won the seat by an overwhelming margin of over five lakh votes. This year, going against the BJP stalwart is former Gujarat women's wing chairperson Sonal Patel. The BJP is confident of its victory, eyeing a record winning margin of more than 10 lakh votes this time.
Supriya Sule, NCP, Baramati: From Baramati, in Maharashtra's Pune district, one of the most keenly watched elections in the third phase, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has fielded Sharad Pawar’s daughter and sitting MP Supriya Sule. The seat will be a humdinger of a contest as Sule is fielded against another Pawar family member – Ajit Pawar’s wife Sunetra Pawar. In 2019, Sule had won the seat against BJP's Kanchan Rahul Kool.
Jyotiraditya Scindia, BJP, Guna: More than four years after he switched from Congress, Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia is contesting his first Lok Sabha polls on a BJP ticket from Guna, Madhya Pradesh. A former bastion of the Scindia family, the Union minister is seeking to reclaim the seat he lost in 2019. The BJP has secured the Guna seat only twice – in 1998 and 2019. Riding on the back of the saffron party and PM Modi’s popularity, Scindia plans to leave no stones unturned this time.
Shivraj Singh Chouhan, BJP, Vidisha: The BJP has fielded ‘Mama’ Shivraj Singh Chouhan from Vidisha seat in Madhya Pradesh. Chouhan, a five-time MP from Vidisha, was recently replaced by Mohan Yadav as Chief Minister in an anti-incumbency strategy after the party's mammoth victory in the state polls. Vidisha seat is bastion for the BJP, which has consistently won all elections here since 1991, with other stalwarts like Sushma Swaraj and Atal Bihari Vajpayee also representing the seat.
Dimple Yadav, SP, Mainpuri: For the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh, this will be the first Lok Sabha election it is fighting without Mulayam Singh Yadav. Dimple Yadav, SP president Akhilesh Yadav’s wife and an accidental politician, is contesting from Mainpuri where her late father-in-law won five times. A family stronghold, many believe that the party’s decision to field the ‘bahu’ of the family could be trouble as she is pitted against state minister Jaiveer Singh, the sitting MLA from Mainpuri Sadar. The seat also has a third candidate in the fray with Shiv Prasad Yadav of the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) entering the contest.
Pralhad Joshi, BJP, Dharwad: Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Coal and Mines, Pralhad Joshi is contesting from Dharwad constituency in Karnataka. An industrialist by vocation, Pralhad Joshi came into the political limelight when he organised a movement to hoist the Tri-colour flag at Idagah Maidan in Hubli district. A five-time MP and three-time consecutive winner from the Dharwad seat, Joshi has locked horns with Congress’ Vinod Asooti in the Lingayat heartland.
Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Congress, Baharampur: Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, leader of the largest opposition party, is fighting to retain his seat from Baharampur Lok Sabha constituency. Once oscillating between the Left and Congress, the seat has been a Congress stronghold for the past two decades with Chowdhury representing the seat since 1999. This year, it is set for a three-pronged battle between the Congress, BJP and Trinamool Congress (TMC). The BJP has fielded Nirmal Kumar Saha, while Mamata Banerjee’s TMC candidate is cricketer Yusuf Pathaan.
